Sumter County plans to begin a feral cat program by Jan. 1 that will reduce the number of cats euthanized in the county shelter.
Based on a similar program in Jacksonville, the program will involve picking up feral cats, neutering and vaccinating them, then returning them to their neighborhoods. If cats are picked up twice due to nuisance complaints, they will be relocated to a rural area.
The county’s current policy is to kill feral cats within 24 hours if they do not have chips or other identification.
County Administrator Bradley Arnold, who visited the Jacksonville program last month with officials of the Sumter County Humane Society/SPCA, said it’s been difficult to find local veterinarians to participate in the program. He said the Jacksonville program has offered to provide veterinarians if needed.
“It’s a doable program,” Arnold told county commissioners Tuesday night.
Newly elected board chairman Al Butler also praised the effort.
“Let’s do it,” he said. “It sounds like a promising program.”
The county also now offers tours of its shelter for up to three county residents at 11 a.m. Thursdays.
The changes come after animal activists have attended county board meetings for the past several months, demanding that the county’s animal shelter become no-kill, where at least 90 percent of the animals are saved.
In October, eight dogs and 21 cats of 184 animals were euthanized, according to the latest animal services report. Those numbers are down from prior months when about 40 percent were killed. In September, 18 dogs and 49 cats of 199 animals were euthanized.
Activists were not satisfied with the county’s changes.
Angie Fox of Lost Pets of The Villages said the county needs a referendum on whether its shelter should become no-kill.
“We’ve asked you for a referendum and you refuse,” she told commissioners. “It’s time for you to change direction and stop killing our pets.”
In early 2015, the county entered a partnership agreement with the Humane Society to increase adoptions.
Celine Petrie, the Humane Society’s board chairwoman, said she is concerned about comments and charges made by the animal activists.
“It seems quite unfair to us that people can speak third-hand hearsay and make questionable or unsupported statements with no regard and no consequences,” she said.
Petrie said the Animal Services Department has made several changes after “professional, respectful discussion” with Humane Society officials.
Those changes include cats now receiving the same hold time as dogs, doubling the number of cat cages, county funds for pain medication for spayed and neutered animals and more animal photos to enhance their adoption prospects.
The goal of a no-kill shelter is possible for the county’s Animal Services Department, Petrie said.
Despite repeated suggestions by commissioners that the activists volunteer with the Humane Society, Petrie said the society’s board has not been contacted by them.
“We admire their passion and share their goal of a no-kill Sumter County, but cannot endorse some of their methods toward achieving this goal,” she said.
